Double Wheel Rake

Double Wheel Rake HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Rakes (44) 19-5-6 "Years ago I heard about a farmer who put two wheel rakes together by turning one upside down and replacing the teeth with opposite facing ones. I went to see his rake and immediately went home and built a similar one for my own use. We used it on thousands of acres over a 15 year period but it was somewhat difficult to use since we always had to make two trips to get it from field to field. That's because it was really two separate rakes hooked up side by side. Also, it was some-times difficult for my wife and kids to hook the two rakes together," says David McCoy, Fredericktown, Ohio. So, when his original double rake wore out, McCoy decided to come up with a design of his own for a double V -rake. He used the frame and wheels from a John Deere implement cart (model H931F) that was originally designed to carry rotary hoes, spike and spring tooth harrows, and so on. The carts were originally manufactured in the late 1950's and 60's, and McCoy says you can still find them around cheap. He mounted a 4 by 6-in. beam across the center of the frame. At either end of the cross beam he attached the vertical portion of a broken knuckle off the front end of a wide front tractor. He bolted a wheel hub to the center of each of the wheel rake frames which attach to the knuckles on the ends of the beam. The hookup allows the rakes to pivot back and forth from transport position to the V-shaped raking position, and also allows them to float and pivot over uneven terrain. The rakes are held in transport or field position by 3-pt. hitch pins inserted through sliding brackets at the front of the frame. No tools are needed to change the position of the rakes, and you can adjust the width of the windrows by simply pulling two pins Both wheel rakes are Farmhands. One has a crank on the front to raise or lower the wheels. Wheels on the other one must be raised or lowered by hand, which McCoy says was difficult for his wife and kids, so he added little binders that makes the job easier. In fact, he says his method is actually faster than the crank. He used one of the wheel rake tongues to pull the double rake hookup. It'll rake 8 to 9 acres an hour and anyone can swing it to transport position in a couple minutes. In addition, you can use either side of the rake by itself, if desired. McCoy spent $800 to build the rake, most of which was for the "opposite" rake teeth. He says they cost twice as much as "regular" teeth. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David C. McCoy, 16413 Old Mansfield Rd., Fredericktown, Ohio 43019 (ph 614 397-4664)

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